The present invention relates in general to a vent for use in a building for venting a fire within the building. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a pivotal wall vent that is normally secured in a closed position but that is releasable either manually or automatically to an open position for venting a fire within the building.
In many of the larger buildings now constructed, the basic structure of the building is essentially fire-proof but many times the contents that are stored in the building may not be fore-proof. When a fire starts within a section of the building smoke can spread throughout the building or at least throughout an area of the building and can cause a pantic. Many of these high rise buildings are also provided with air-conditioning or heating ducts through which at least the smoke can spread.
In order to alleviate this problem and permit the smoke to escape, in the past firemen have broken windows of the existing structure in order to vent the fire allowing it to quickly burn out, dissipating the smoke generated from the smoldering fire. One of the problems with breaking the windows is that there may be some danger involved and if the area outside of the building is to be cleared of people before the windows are broken there is a loss of time before the venting can take place. It may take as long as 15 or 20 minutes to clear the area before the windows can be broken. Also, once the window is broken, it is not easily or immediately replaced. Moreover, the breaking of the window can only be accomplished from the floor where the fire is, thus making it difficult to reach the area to break the windows especially if the fire is in the upper stores of the building.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a fire vent that is releasably maintained in a closed position and that can be released to an open position for venting a fire within a building.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a fire vent comprising a fixed frame and a pivotal frame that is normally retained in a closed position but which may be either manually released or released in response to the detection of heat or smoke.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a fire vent in accordance with the preceding objects wherein the vent may be released to its open position manually from the story therebelow.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a framing system for use in a building and which is constructed as thin as possible and yet contain all of the operating apparatus associated therewith.